MANILA, Philippines -- The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons turned back a spirited run by the Ateneo Blue Eagles to open their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball campaign victorious, 77-61, Saturday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
JD Cagulangan paced UP with 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Francis Lopez added 14 markers.
After a close first quarter, UP broke the game wide open in the middle periods.
The lead grew to as much as 18 points, 50-32, in the third quarter after a Jacob Bayla deuce.
Ateneo, though, did not go down without a fight.
The Katipunan-based squad was able to cut the lead to eight, 62-54, capped by huge shots by Shawn Tuano.
However, the Fighting Maroons found another higher gear to keep their distance as Lopez and Cagulangan hit big shots down the stretch.
A Lopez dunk with 2:32 remaining server as the game's exclamation point.
Jared Bahay showed out in his much-anticipated UAAP debut, leading Ateneo with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, but shot only 3-of-11 from the field.
Joshua Lazaro and Tuano added 11 apiece.
It was a horrendous offensive performance for Ateneo as they made just 19 of their 66 field goal attempts, while also sinking 19 of their 40 free throws.
On the other hand, UP made 29 of their 59 attempts from the floor.